GENUS 17. 



SEDGE FAMILY. 



35 1 



7. Scleria verticillata Muhl. Low Nut- 

 rush. Fig. 865. 



S 1 . verticillata Muhl. ; Willd. Sp. PL 4: 317. 1805. 

 Hypoporum verticillatum Nees, Linnaea 9 : 303. 



1835- 



Annual, roots fibrous ; culms very slendei 

 or filiform, 3-angled, smooth or nearly so, erect, 

 4'-2 tall. Leaves very narrowly linear, i"-i'' 

 wide, erect, shorter than the culm, the lower verj 

 short ; sheaths sometimes pubescent ; spikelets in 

 several separated clusters, the inflorescence simple 

 or sparingly branched ; bracts bristle-like ; scales 

 glabrous; achene globose, i" in diameter, crusta- 

 ceous, usually tipped with the base of the style, 

 marked by sharp distinct transverse ridges, or 

 somewhat reticulated by additional longitudinal 

 ridges ; hypogynium none. 



In moist meadows, eastern Massachusetts to On- 

 tario. Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Texas. Mexico. 

 Bahamas and Cuba. Plant, especially the roots, fra- 

 grant in drying.- July-Sept. 



17. KOBRESIA Willd. Sp. PL 4: 205. 

 1805. 



Slender arctic and mountain sedges, with erect culms, and i-2-flowered spikelets, 

 variously clustered. Stamens 3. Perianth-bristles or perigynium wanting. Ovary oblong, 

 usually spicate, narrowed into a short style ; stigmas 3, linear. Achene obtusely 3-angled, 

 sessile. [Name in honor of Von Kobres, a naturalist of Augsburg.] 



About 30 species, widely distributed in arctic and mountainous regions. Type species : Kobresia 

 scirpina Willd. The generic name is sometimes written Cobresia. 



Spikes several, clustered. i. K. bipcrtita. 



Spike solitary. 2. K. Bcllardi. 



i. Kobresia bipartita (All.) Delia Torre. 



Arctic Kobresia. 



Fig. 866. 



Car ex bipartita All. Fl. Ped. 2 : 265. pi. 89. f. 5. 1785. 

 Kobresia caricina Willd. Sp. PL 4: 206. 1805. 

 K. bipartita Delia Torre, Anl. Alpenbl. 330. 1882. 



Culms solitary or tufted, smooth or very nearly so, 

 4'-: 2' tall. Leaves about \" wide, infolded at least 

 in drying, usually shorter than the culm, the old 

 sheaths becoming fibrillose; spike i' long or less, 

 composed of several or numerous linear appressed 

 or ascending spikelets; scales somewhat serrulate on 

 the keel, rather more than i" long; mature achenes 

 slightly longer than the scales. 



Greenland to Alberta and the Canadian Rocky Moun- 

 tains. Also in Europe and Asia. The name Carc.r bi- 

 partita All. is doubtfuHy associated with this plant. 

 Summer. 



2. Kobresia Bellardi (All.) Degland. Bel- 

 lard's Kobresia. Fig. 867. 



Carex Bellardi All. Fl. Ped. 2 : 264. pi. 92. f. 2. 1785. 

 Kobresia scirpina Willd. Sp. PL 4: 205. 1805. 

 Elyna spicata Schrad. Fl. Germ, i: 155. 1806. 

 K. Bcllardi Degland. in Loisel, Fl. Gall. 2 : 626. 1807. 

 Elyna Bellardi C. Koch, Linnaea 21: 616. 1848. 



Densely tufted, culms very slender, 4/-i8' tall, 

 longer than the very narrow leaves. Old sheaths 

 fibrillose, brown ; margins of the leaves more or less 

 revolu te; spike subtended by a short bract or bract- 

 less, densely flowered or sometimes interrupted be- 

 low, 8"-i5" long, i -"-2" in diameter; achenes rather 

 less than i" long, J" thick, appressed. 



In arctic America from Greenland to Bering Sea and 

 Alberta, south in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado. Also 

 in Europe and Asia. Summer. 



